OCC, YMCA announce plans to build pool

Lauren Long / The Post-Standard, 2009Lifeguards watch from the side of the pool as Darcy Lewis of Solvay and others swim laps in the pool at Onondaga Community College in December. The pool is scheduled to close soon, but OCC and the YMCA are teaming up to build a new pool.

The Greater Syracuse YMCA will build a pool at Onondaga Community College, officials announced today.

The pool will sit next to the college's physical education building, and the YMCA will raise the money and run the pool. YMCA Executive Director Hal Welsh said a six-lane lap pool could be built for about $1.5 million, but the YMCA might also build a second, warm-water pool. He did not have an estimate of the total cost, when construction would begin or when the pool might open.

The announcement comes just days before the 1970s-era OCC pool closes for good. College officials have said the pool became too expensive to maintain.

College President Debbie Sydow said no college money would be used to build the pool. No formal agreement has been reached, it but should be approved by both boards by the end of the year. Sydown said the collaboration between OCC and the YMCA was modeled on the one at Jamestown Community College that opened in 2004.